Sancho Panza
Oil Painting
1839 (made)
1839 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
Object Type
Oil paintings such as this with subjects taken from popular literature steadily replaced commissions for history paintings in the early 19th century. The public and most collectors of modern works moved to a preference for lighter and sometimes more sentimental themes.
Subjects Depicted
In Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, the adventures of the Don's servant, the lazy, greedy and completely unidealistic Sancho Panza, was the source of many humorous and, to modern tastes, cruel adventures. Here the gourmand Sancho Panza is shown enduring what was to him a torment. A physician is waving an ivory wand and peremptorily ordering his food to be removed as soon as he has only tasted it. The Victorian public found this harsh treatment amusing and the effect is increased because Sancho and his surroundings are not caricatured, but could be a recognisable portrait. One reviewer for The Examiner wrote: 'The eyes of Sancho are despairingly fixed on this grim emblem of perpetual disappointment; and the heartsick discontent which his countenance exhibits is infinitely humorous.'
People
Although Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) had begun as a history and portrait painter, he soon turned to literary themes. The collector John Sheepshanks (1787-1863) owned 17 paintings by Leslie with subjects taken from well-known authors, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Molière.
Oil paintings such as this with subjects taken from popular literature steadily replaced commissions for history paintings in the early 19th century. The public and most collectors of modern works moved to a preference for lighter and sometimes more sentimental themes.
Subjects Depicted
In Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, the adventures of the Don's servant, the lazy, greedy and completely unidealistic Sancho Panza, was the source of many humorous and, to modern tastes, cruel adventures. Here the gourmand Sancho Panza is shown enduring what was to him a torment. A physician is waving an ivory wand and peremptorily ordering his food to be removed as soon as he has only tasted it. The Victorian public found this harsh treatment amusing and the effect is increased because Sancho and his surroundings are not caricatured, but could be a recognisable portrait. One reviewer for The Examiner wrote: 'The eyes of Sancho are despairingly fixed on this grim emblem of perpetual disappointment; and the heartsick discontent which his countenance exhibits is infinitely humorous.'
People
Although Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) had begun as a history and portrait painter, he soon turned to literary themes. The collector John Sheepshanks (1787-1863) owned 17 paintings by Leslie with subjects taken from well-known authors, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Molière.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Sancho Panza (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | oil on panel |
| Brief description | Oil painting depicting Sancho Panza (Cervantes, Don Quixote). Charles Robert Leslie 1839. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 |
| Object history | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857. By Charles Robert Leslie RA (born in London, 1794, died there in 1859) Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1839 |
| Subject depicted | |
| Literary reference | Cervantes, Don Quixote |
| Summary | Object Type Oil paintings such as this with subjects taken from popular literature steadily replaced commissions for history paintings in the early 19th century. The public and most collectors of modern works moved to a preference for lighter and sometimes more sentimental themes. Subjects Depicted In Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, the adventures of the Don's servant, the lazy, greedy and completely unidealistic Sancho Panza, was the source of many humorous and, to modern tastes, cruel adventures. Here the gourmand Sancho Panza is shown enduring what was to him a torment. A physician is waving an ivory wand and peremptorily ordering his food to be removed as soon as he has only tasted it. The Victorian public found this harsh treatment amusing and the effect is increased because Sancho and his surroundings are not caricatured, but could be a recognisable portrait. One reviewer for The Examiner wrote: 'The eyes of Sancho are despairingly fixed on this grim emblem of perpetual disappointment; and the heartsick discontent which his countenance exhibits is infinitely humorous.' People Although Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) had begun as a history and portrait painter, he soon turned to literary themes. The collector John Sheepshanks (1787-1863) owned 17 paintings by Leslie with subjects taken from well-known authors, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Molière. |
| Bibliographic reference | Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 175-76 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FA.132[O] |
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| Record created | February 27, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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